This invention relates to sailboats of the type having mast stays which are adapted to be tensioned by rotation of turnbuckle members associated therewith, and more specifically relates to a turnbuckle wrench for imparting stay-tensioning rotative movement to such turnbuckle members and for at the same time indicating the degree of tension produced in the mast stays.
Optimum performance of sailboats, particularly those of the various "class" type used for racing, can be achieved only if the boats are properly "tuned." Such "tuning" involves, among other things, tensioning of a boat's mast stays in such a manner that the tension of each stay of the boat is of an optimum desired magnitude and is properly correlated to the tension of the other mast stays. Tensioning of the stays is normally accomplished by imparting rotation in the appropriate direction to turnbuckle members by which the stays are conventionally connected to portions of the sailboat's hull. Sailboat turnbuckles are of various constructions, as a result of which a wrench suitable for applying a stay-tensioning rotative force to a turnbuckle of one construction may not be usable in connection with a turnbuckle of a different construction. For example, while a conventional open-end crescent wrench may be employed in associate with a turnbuckle of the well-known construction having a slotted main body portion of generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration, such wrench could not be employed in association with a newer type of turnbuckle, now found upon many sailboats, having a generally cylindrical main body portion through which a relatively small bore laterally extends.
Additionally, and irrespective of the means employed to impart stay-tensioning rotative movement to a particular sailboat turnbuckle, there is the problem of ascertaining the magnitude of the tension of the stay connected to such turnbuckle. As is indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,210, gauge-like devices previously proposed for this purpose have been either of a removable type attached to the stay during tensioning, and then subsequently removed, or of a second type permanently associated with the cable. Devices of the first of the aforesaid types are cumbersome to use, while devices of the second type are relatively expensive, bearing in mind the possibility of a person owning a number of sailboats each having a plurality of stays. Consequently, many "week-end" sailors still depend primarily upon only "feel" for proper tensioning of the mast stays of their boats. Such procedure is highly unreliable and frequently results, particularly with novice sailors, in improper tuning of sailboat rigging.